Classics 250B Exam #2 Grading Key

Transcription

1 Part I: 6 points each (54 points total). Scale: 6.0: 100% (A+) 5.5: 92% (A/A- ) 5.0: 83% (B/B- ) 4.5: 75% (C) 4.0: 67% (D+) 3.5: 58% (E) Classics 250B Exam #2 Grading Key praeceptor amoris: the teacher/doctor of love; didactic stance taken by (esp.) Ovid in his instructional poetry about love (as in some of the Amores) bougonia: ancient process to create bees from an ox s corpse, as described in Virgil s Georgics Lucretia: after she is raped by Sextus Tarquinius (at the end of Livy s first book), she kills herself so as to serve as the ultimate model of chastity for Roman women; her death also leads to the establishment of the republic apostrophe: rhetorical device in which a writer turns away from his (narrative or other) purpose at hand and address a character, thing, abstraction, etc., directly in the 2 nd person. priamel: a rhetorical formula of the type some prefer X, others prefer Y, but my preference is for Z (an example is Horace s opening Ode 1.1) Juturna: Turnus s sister, her name reflects her role as agent of Juno/supporter of Turnus; called out of battle in Aeneid 12 as Turnus faces his final fate and laments her unjust treatment by Jupiter Corinna: female addressee of some of Ovid s Amores and name of classical Greek lyric poetess Georgics: Virgil s didactic poem on agriculture (written BCE), modeled both on Hesiod s Works & Days and learned Alexandrian scientific poetry carpe diem: harvest [i.e., not quite seize ] the day; Epicurean injunction in one of Horace s poems (i.e., seize a present opportunity while it is ripe and don t concern yourself with the future/death) Pallas: son of Evander, placed in Aeneas s care; killed by Turnus, which leads to

2 Aeneas s slaughter of Turnus at the epic s end (i.e., when he spots Pallas s sword- belt displayed as a spoil) Cerinthus: (male) addressee of Sulpicia s poems; his name means "bee- bread" (bees are traditionally associated with poetry; cf. also the idea that the name of Cerinthus recalls both Corinna & Cynthia) Maecenas: Augustus s right hand man in Rome and patron of the arts, patron of the poets Virgil and Horace. Part II: 20 points each (120 points total). Distribution of Points: (1): 2 points total (2): 2 points total (3): 2 points total (4): 2 points total (5): 12 points total Scale for commentary (part 5): 12.0: 100% (A/A+) 11.5: 96% (A) 11.0: 92% (A/A- ) 10.5: 88% (B+) 10.0: 83% (B/B- ) 9.5: 79% (C+) 9.0: 75% (C) 8.5: 71% (C- ) 8.0: 67% (D+) 7.5: 63% (D/D- ) 7.0: 58% (E) A. (Tibullus ff.) (1) Tibullus (3) Tibullus/the poet/poet s persona/the poem s 1 st person speaker (4) in his opening (programmatic) poem, Tibullus is defining his personal and poetic values expression of Tibullus s typical themes (love, peace, security, rustic life/the farm), including the simple, Epicurean life aversion to values of traditional Roman (male) culture, i.e., pursuit of wealth, military accolades; he instead is devoted to his mistress, to whose beauty he is captive (cf. militia amoris)

3 confused setting: is he is the country or the city (merely dreaming of the country?) Janitor- like, I guard her stubborn door suggests an urban paraclausithyron B. (Virgil, Eclogues 1) (1) Virgil (2) Eclogues (3) Speaker #1 = Meliboeus, Speaker #2 = Tityrus (4) near the opening of the poem, Tityrus informs his fellow shepherd of his imminent departure Meliboeus apparently has lost his land and possessions as a result of land confiscations an example of how contemporary politics invades V. s bucolic word and must leave the pastoral world behind for good; Tityrus, who seems to be stand- in for Virgil, by contrast has escaped a similar fate as the result of an appeal to a god- like figure (Octavian?) in Rome, who has intervened on his behalf; the poem explores the tensions between the two shepherds, whose fates are sharply contrasted, and ends on a tragic note (typical of Virgil) as Meliboeus helplessly embraces his exile (after first enjoying the kindness of Tityrus). C. (Propertius ff.) (1) Propertius (3) Propertius/the poet/poet s persona/the poem s 1 st person speaker (4) the speaker imagines his death and funeral the speaker s overall obsession with death and the preservation of his memory, primarily through his three books of elegies the Propertian poet s typical defiance and rejection of traditional Roman aristocratic values (here represented by lavish funeral rites) the speaker s own epitaph here in caps.; his wish to be remembered as the slave of love and a kind of male version of the idealized unvira D. (Propertius 2.7.1ff.) (1) Propertius (3) Propertius/the poet/poet s persona/the poem s 1 st person speaker (4) the speaker celebrates the repeal of a law (bachelor tax or adultery legislation?) that somehow threatened his relationship with his mistress the unflattering (implied) comparison between Augustus and the omnipotent/autocratic Jupiter the speaker s typically elegiac allegiance to romantic love over service to the state/warfare ( the soldiery of love )

4 the Propertian speaker s general defiance of the Augustan regime and his untraditional preference for romantic love over all else, including marriage & continuation of the male line/patriarchy E. (Virgil, Aeneid 4.506ff.) (1) Virgil (2) Aeneid (3) Virgil /the poet/poet s persona/the poem s 1 st person speaker (4) the poet describes Dido s reaction as she watches (from her royal tower above) the Trojans prepare to leave (on the beach below) the ant simile powerfully captures both the Trojans cold and communal precision, and their indifference to Dido and her extreme isolation as she looks down upon the beach the passage illustrates Virgil s highly subjective style, e.g., through its focalization of Dido s perspective and esp. by the narrator s apostrophe to Dido as a further indication of the narrator s identification with Dido s emotions, he apostrophizes the personification of Love (i.e., as the force ultimately responsible for Dido s unfolding tragedy) F. (Sulpicia ff.) (1) Sulpicia (3) Sulpicia/the poet/poet s persona/the poem s 1 st person speaker (4) This apparently is the opening (programmatic) poem of Sulpicia s elegies Sulpicia is clearly conscious of her unusual status as a female elegiac poet she claims to write for an audience, presumably female, that has not experienced the joys of elegiac love as she has she flouts tradition and gender expectations here by asserting that she requires no discretion and confidently welcomes any infamy that may attach to her affair (and poetry) G. (Ovid Amores ff.) (1) Ovid /Amores (3) Ovid/the poet/poet s persona/the poem s 1 st person speaker (4) the poem explores the idea that lovers are the real soldiers in human life the Ovidian speaker is taking this conventional idea (i.e., militia amoris) to new extremes (i.e., the entire poem) in this culture, one typically thinks of military service as a call to action and duty; here the love- poet claims his only service is to his beloved

5 the lover thus turns traditional military values on their head and declares perhaps with playful and typically Ovidian humor/parody love s nocturnal battlefields to be the highest possible calling H. (Horace, Odes 1.4) (1) Horace /Odes (3) Horace /the poet/poet s persona/the poem s 1 st person speaker (4) this is an entire poem, set at the arrival of spring and calling for typically Epicurean enjoyment of the moment the spring thaw is a kind of universal call for all creatures to rise to action/seek pleasure the call to action takes place on both the human and divine/mythic levels (as is typical of Horace) typically Epicurean and Horatian is the backdrop of death here, the ultimate equalizer (i.e., we should ignore it and all future considerations and instead harvest the day) I. (Livy, Preface) (1) Livy (2) The Rise of Rome/Ab Vrbe Condita (3) Livy/the author/the historian in his own voice (4) Livy is setting out his views of history/historiography in his Preface historical accuracy is difficult when dealing with the distant past/lack of reliable records, and so is not a priority for Livy cultural myths are thus inevitable (and useful) Rome is especially entitled to its cultural myths, including those linking its origins to the gods, because it (currently) is one of history s winners (i.e., a powerful empire) The exam is worth 174 Total Points. Scores are computed and recorded as a percentage in D2L.